Start up for a fake beginner..

I have been literally a click away from purchasing the creative cloud for good half a year. I have also been looking into courses which may get me started. I wonder if getting creative cloud would be sufficient at this stage. I am unsure whether being able to use the software and view tutorials without having set briefs and feedback is the right start. The graphic design courses I found online, including a fast-track graphic design college, seem to be very expensive and lack credibility. Where do you suggest I should start?

My background is in art and design but software has missed me and I need to get into it.. and finish with a portfolio...

What stage are you at? Do you or will you need Adobe software for your day to day work? Creative Cloud is the industry standard package for a lot of creatives. In short, if you want to work with/for other creative professionals and studios, you will need CC. If you're working solo, however, then there are cheaper alternatives for a lot of industries that I actually think are better in some respects.

I know quite a bit of theory of art and design and there is much that I can apply from my studio practice to graphic design. However, I only know how to open the programmes and what they can roughly do.
Also, I might look into working for others for some time. Do you think I should go for CC or start with something else? I wonder if having access to CC would be enough for me as I might need work on projects to learn the software.. How would you approach it ?

I've heard some less than positive things about these "online courses".

There are so many resources on the web now like Hank says, Lynda is good.
I used it to learn Illustrator when I moved from Freehand.

If you're going the Adobe route, I'd concentrate on learning Photoshop and illustrator first.
You can get a 30 day free trial with Adobe products so that may be a way to test the water.
You could get Ps first the Ai and a couple of months subscription to Lynda for about $50.

Snapping at Adobe's heals is Affinity Designer and Photo which are really cheap at around £50 one off price.
They both work really similarly to Adobe products and many say they're better.

I've heard some less than positive things about these "online courses".

There are so many resources on the web now like Hank says, Lynda is good.
I used it to learn Illustrator when I moved from Freehand.

If you're going the Adobe route, I'd concentrate on learning Photoshop and illustrator first.
You can get a 30 day free trial with Adobe products so that may be a way to test the water.
You could get Ps first the Ai and a couple of months subscription to Lynda for about $50.

Snapping at Adobe's heals is Affinity Designer and Photo which are really cheap at around £50 one off price.
They both work really similarly to Adobe products and many say they're better.

Click to expand...

Thank you for telling me about Affinity Designer and Photo. Is it easy to switch from Affinity to Adobe? What are the best tutorials for Affinity? Also, can you tell me of a library with photos/images which one can access and use for work?

I forget who but someone on the forum has switched from Ai to Affinity and uses it pretty much all the time so I guess they'd be better to tell you how similar they are but I hear Affinity is built very closely to Ai.
I remember switching from Freehand to Illustrator and although they were similar, it can be difficult when you're used to something.

If you do a search there are quite a few tut's out there and I guess they're growing all the time.

Again, if you do a search there are a lot of free stock photo sites out there. Nowhere close to sites like Shutterstock but pretty good.

Pete, May I ask you what you specialise in? Why did you choose Affinity over Adobe? Do many professionals work in Affinity? Is it easy to switch from one to another?
I am happy to hear that it might be able to enter the market without investing in Adobe subscription..

We work mainly with cinemas, large format printing for their promotions and various other associated material. that is only because of the course of events that lead to the forming of the studio in the first place. The reason I looked at Serif was that I couldn't afford Adobe when I started things up and I thought at the time it might be able to do the job. As Paul said earlier, it very much depends on whether you want to work in a studio (where they will use CC products) or for yourself (when it doesn't really matter what software you use, it is more about how proficient you are at using it). If you look at the Affinity forums you will see that more creatives are seeing the benefits of broadening their outlook regarding the programs they use.